[353] been at the mercy of our troops at night. The fact that not a single gun on our sea-face was dismounted, and very few of our soldiers killed and wounded at the guns, shows that the direct fire of the fleet could not have done much damage among sharpshooters behind the works and sand-hills lying parallel to the sea-beach. And yet not one gun was fired upon these invaders of the soil of North Carolina. Admiral Porter says the landing was effected without opposition. General Terry says:
At 3 o'clock P. M. (13th) nearly 8,000 men, with three days rations in their haversacks, and forty rounds of ammunition in their boxes, six days supply of hard bread in bulk, 300,000 additional rounds of small arm ammunition, and a sufficient number of entrenching tools, had been safely landed. The surf on the beach was still quite high, notwithstanding that the weather had become very pleasant, and, owing to it, some of the men had their rations and ammunition ruined by water. With this exception, no accident of any kind occurred.Captain H. C. Lockwood, Aid-de-Camp to General Ames, says:
The first troops were landed on the beach about four miles north of New Inlet. Pickets were thrown out in every direction. The enemy did not make any opposition to this movement. In fact, not a single shot was fired at our troops at this time. The landing was accomplished amid the greatest enthusiasm of the soldiers. Cheer upon cheer went up, clearly indicating their splendid moral. The surf gave some trouble at first, but it seemed to subside as the day progressed.The officer who had command of the picket line on January 15, wrote that the landing of the troops was “exciting and amusing sport.” All this in the face of the army commanded by General Bragg, who censures my garrison for not holding the fort. General Bragg's letter proceeds:
Anywhere beyond the range of our heavy guns on the fort our land force could not approach him. Once landed, our only chance was to keep him, if possible, from the fort.When the enemy got within the range of the heavy guns of the fort, why did he not make the effort to keep him from the fort? General Bragg says:
We then confronted him as closely as possible, to watch his movements and endeavor to strike if he moved from under his shipping. A dense swamp lay between us and extended three miles towards Fort Fisher. In this position I found the two forces when I reached General
